Ice Bubbles
by Legendary Moon
Summary: Short story based on friendship of Ami and Neo-Queen Serenity.


AN: Hi all, LM here. I've been looking for a while and FINALLY found some of my (really) old stories. I've decided to include them here for fun since this one was written sometime in the late 1990's (I was still in high school). I've cleaned them up a little bit, but for the most part they are "as is". Note that the email address listed within the story was hacked in 2002 or 2003 and no longer exists. Feel free to comment or review to . I also welcome requests or challenges. ^_^ Thank you for reading!

Author: Eclipse

E-Mail:

Title: Ice Bubbles

Rating: PG

Standard Disclaimers Apply

I had always felt so alone. I was never accepted anywhere. They always spoke harshly to me and about me. They meaning everyone. It was so difficult to go through life knowing what you want but yet never being able to get it because the opinions of others pushed you back. It had been that way until I had met her. She was so different from everyone else. She readily accepted me when all of the others had shunned me. I knew that I had an unspoken bond with her then. She was my princess. Then, now, forever. She had my trust and I had a friend.

It began with my first day at her school. She suspected me of being evil. Until, that is, later in the day when a youma had attacked my cram school. It was then that she found out she wasn't alone in fighting evil and it was then that I found out that I was strong. Our friendship grew from there. She wasn't the brightest, but she tried so hard and her heart showed it. I was lonely and she saw it. I helped her with her school work and she introduced me to other people. Then came Ryo. When I first laid eyes on him, I knew we had a special connection with each other. He was attacked by that same evil that had brought Usagi-chan and I together. She helped me heal him. She gave me the advice that I had needed for that relationship to flourish. She pointed out to me that we were both smart and we both had only a few close friends. Even though his family continued to move from one place to another, we always stayed in touch and always got together when he came back for a visit.

Usagi-chan eventually raised her grades above failing to a solid "C". She rarely need too much of my help after the senshi grouped together. We still held our one on one conversations asking about problems and talking about great things we had done within the past few days. She and Mamoru were together and Ryo and I were together. Our lives were wonderful. With my help, as well as Ryo's and Mamoru's, Usagi was able to lift her grade to a "B" and keep it there for the rest of school. I suspect it was largely on the part of a certain promise made by Mamoru, but her grades were good so I never questioned her about it.

Later, when Crystal Tokyo was a bright and sparkling city, Usagi and Mamoru married and became Neo-Queen and Neo-King of Crystal Tokyo. However, since we were from the old kingdom of the Silver Millennium and sailor senshi, we aged slowly. We weren't immortal, yet it felt that way when we lost our loved ones. Ryo had lived so long. He was a well respected professor at the University of Crystal Tokyo. Neo-Queen Serenity had often called upon him for assistance when some problems arose. But he was old, and I still looked like I was 23. People often thought that he was my father, or even worse, my grandfather until we told them he was my husband. They then shook their heads in disapproval as they walked away. When he was dying, I held him in my arms, crying, as he told me it was a natural course of life and that I shouldn't cry. Then Serenity walked in. She saw my tears and waved her escorts off. They bowed and waited outside. She flashed a pained smile in my direction and sat on the bed next to Ryo. She held his other hand and leaned down to whisper in his ear. She kissed his forehead and sat up, smiling. She sniffled and that's when I noticed her tears. She placed a hand on my shoulder and told me she'd be waiting outside for when I needed her. Rei, Minako, and Makoto also came to say their good byes to Ryo, but none showed the same emotion Serenity had. But then, none of them had taken the time to get to know him as well as she had. Endymion was the last visitor he had other than me. Ryo quietly mumbled his love for me and slipped into the next world. I slowly walked, no, more like stumbled out to the waiting room where Serenity had been waiting. Her eyes were red-rimmed and tears had stained her cheeks. She stood when she heard the door to Ryo's room open. Our eyes connected and I could see she knew. She held her arms open to me. We collapsed to our knees, crying together, for she had lost a friend, and I had lost a husband, a friend, and a companion.

Weeks went by, and I had meandered through my work at the hospital. I tried to keep myself as busy as I could so I could keep my mind and my heart from remembering how lonely I was. Serenity was forced to return to the palace for her duties, but she called every night to make sure I was doing okay. Of course I told her that I was fine, but inside I was falling apart. This continued until she just stopped calling one day in mid May. I had heard nothing from the palace until the beginning of August. Endymion called, his voice was panicked. Something was wrong with Serenity. She had fallen ill that day she had stopped calling. They figured it was just a cold, but then it hadn't gone away. She had been bed ridden that entire time, with doctor after doctor being flown in to attend to her. I told Endymion I'd be there as soon as I could get there.

She looked horrible, she was so pale and so thin. Endymion had also looked tired. She struggled to sit up, but I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me and her eyes went wide.

"Ami-chan... you look... oh... I should've kept calling... I've left you all alone..." Her eyes filled with tears as she continued apologizing. I lifted my hand and she stopped speaking. After a thorough examination of my princess, my queen, I found that she had only been feeling the sadness and lonliness that I had buried deep inside for all of those weeks. It was our strong bond of friendship that had caused it. She couldn't stand hearing me lie to her over the phone so I wouldn't keep her from any of her duties. Something inside her clicked, and she began feeling my pain as well.

As soon as I had gotten Serenity back on her feet, we began what we had done all through school. We went back to our daily talks and began a walk through the park, just the two of us. On one of our walks, I swore I had seen him. I thought I saw Ryo. He looked at me and smiled. I turned back to Serenity who had given me the largest smile and nodded for me to go over and speak to him. He smiled and introduced himself to me. Next thing I knew, he was talking to me about Ryo's and my past. I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open. My eyes drifted away from Ryo and back to Serenity who was now joined by Endymion. After I had gone back to the palace, I tracked down Serenity. After asking what all she knew about this afternoon, I found out that she had spoken to her mother a week ago and asked if Ryo could return to me. I grinned and hugged her.

A year later, Serenity called me. She asked if I could examine her again. I agreed. After a thorough exam, I announced the news to her. She was pregnant and if I could recall my childhood correctly, it was Small Lady growing inside of her now. Suddenly, Serenity broke into tears. After calming her down, I pryed the reason she had burst into tears out of her. It turns out, that she had made a deal with the goddess that if she allowed Ryo to return to Earth and age the same as we were, she would give up her own life as soon as Small Lady was old enough to rule on her own. My heart dropped as well as my chin. Endymion walked into the room. I immediately asked if he had known anything about what she had done. His face was solemn as he nodded. He did know. And he let her do it.

"Ami, she wanted you to feel the love he showed you for a long time. She wanted you to feel the love like she felt for me."

I argued, telling her that too many people depended on her and that it was not a good decision to do something like that. She smiled after wiping the tears from her face with the sleeve of her robe. She explained that it would have been selfish of her to continue with her life the way it was, and how it hurt her to see my face when Endymion showed his affection for her. I hugged her again and giggled at the thought of her becoming a mother. But she's ready now. She, our Usagi-chan, has grown up and is ready for whatever lays in the future. No matter what happens or when it is her time to go, I'll be ready. I'll be there to support her wishes, no matter what they may be. Ice bubbles may have frozen my heart in the past, but no more. I'll watch over my princess and I trust her. It will all work out for the best.

AN: Thank you to TokyoFish for alerting me to a problem with the formatting. I hope this is easier to read! ~LM


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